Brad Paisley doing "Gangnam Style." Taylor Swift in a cafe. Little Big Town in a boat, or maybe the set of... Show More »

Brad Paisley doing "Gangnam Style." Taylor Swift in a cafe. Little Big Town in a boat, or maybe the set of an '80s music video. Behold some of the highs and lows of the 2012 Country Music Association Awards.

Eric Close is one of the stars of ABC's "Nashville," which explains his presence at the CMA Award... Show More »

Eric Close is one of the stars of ABC's "Nashville," which explains his presence at the CMA Awards. Not explained: his curious fashion choice for the evening. A long leather coat over jeans and banded-collar shirt, with a striped scarf, doesn't really scream "awards show," does it?

Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles and Jake Owen's new bride, Lacey Buchanan, brought along a couple guests to the awards festivi... Show More »

Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles and Jake Owen's new bride, Lacey Buchanan, brought along a couple guests to the awards festivities. Strolling the CMA Awards red carpet in elegant but comfortable floor-length gowns, both women -- due this month -- showed off their greatest assets: their baby bumps.

Hayden Panettiere showed up to represent her country singer character from ABC's "Nashville" -- and w... Show More »

Hayden Panettiere showed up to represent her country singer character from ABC's "Nashville" -- and we actually kind of liked her mint-green flapper dress. Except for how it showed off her misspelled tattoo. THat's never cute.

Blake Shelton was asked on the red carpet what he was getting wife Miranda Lambert for her birthday. The same thing she got him, ... Show More »

Blake Shelton was asked on the red carpet what he was getting wife Miranda Lambert for her birthday. The same thing she got him, he said: Nothing. "She's very rich," he says. "She doesn't need anything from me."

Keith Urban put the very public >Mariah Carey/Nicki Minaj fighting on "American Idol" in perspective when he said "having a household of 4-year-olds" prepared him for the pop stars' on-set squabbling. That's got to be the best take on the feud we've heard so far. Maybe Carey can relate with her twins more than we thought?

As die-hard "One Tree Hill" fans, it never ceases to please us when we see Jana Kramer on a red carpet -- especially bec... Show More »

As die-hard "One Tree Hill" fans, it never ceases to please us when we see Jana Kramer on a red carpet -- especially because her character bailed on Tree Hill (and her super hot boyfriend) to pursue a country music career. Looks like ne'er-do-well Chris Keller gave Alex some pretty good advice when he told her to hit the road, because Jana killed it on the carpet.

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood delivered a surprisingly crisp and funny opening to the show, even with the no... Show More »

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood delivered a surprisingly crisp and funny opening to the show, even with the now-obligatory "Gangnam Style" dance. Non-comedians trying to be funny in this kind of setting can be dicey, but Underwood and Paisley pulled it off.

Eric Church performed a mash-up of his nostalgia anthem "Springsteen" and the man's "Born To... Show More »

Eric Church performed a mash-up of his nostalgia anthem "Springsteen" and the man's "Born To Run," and it was perfect (and he won the award for best album on top of it). We¿re just glad he got to it before "Glee" did.

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood got in on the "Gangnam Style" craze during the... Show More »

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood got in on the "Gangnam Style" craze during their opening act for the CMAs, but it turns out they don't consider that brief performance to be crossing genres. "What's more country than South Korea?" Paisley asked the audience later in the show. "It's a country. It's south." That's sound logic if we've ever heard it.

After Miranda Lambert won Song of the Year for "Over You," which she wrote with husband Blake She... Show More »

After Miranda Lambert won Song of the Year for "Over You," which she wrote with husband Blake Shelton, Miranda let Blake take the mic to tell the touching story behind the song, which he wrote for the brother who died in a car wreck when he was 14 while Miranda cried at his side. It was very sweet. We were moved. It made us uncomfortable. Can he get drunk and say something politically incorrect now?

Taylor Swift may be growing up, but her idea of love is still as cliched as ever! Her pe... Show More »

Taylor Swift may be growing up, but her idea of love is still as cliched as ever! Her performance of "Begin Again" featured kitten heels, the Eiffel Tower lit up at night, red lipstick, a quaint cafe, and softly falling fake snow. Luckily, her performance was immediately followed by that song about "motorboating," so our bubble was burst pretty quickly.

The country music world is no stranger to big hair, but Little Big Town paid homage to the '80s in another way ... Show More »

The country music world is no stranger to big hair, but Little Big Town paid homage to the '80s in another way during their 2012 CMA Awards performance, singing the entirety of "Pontoon" in what appeared to be the set of a lost Robert Palmer video. All four band members lined up in separate little cubbyholes on stage, writhing around sexily in black leather while they sang their ode to the leisurely pastime of motorboatin' and the stage around them displayed cheese-tastic graphics. Does anyone else suddenly have the urge to day drink while sailing on a pontoon boat?

Best new artist winner Hunter Hayes, with all his youth and his heart-on-sleeve lyrics, is earning compari... Show More »

Best new artist winner Hunter Hayes, with all his youth and his heart-on-sleeve lyrics, is earning comparisons to Taylor Swift. And then he went and gave an "I can't even believe this" acceptance speech when he won his award. So it's official. Past girlfriends of Hunter Hayes, take note: That song may be about you.

Little Big Town covered their bases when accepting their award for Vocal Group of the Year, name dropping their record label and th... Show More »

Little Big Town covered their bases when accepting their award for Vocal Group of the Year, name dropping their record label and the man upstairs in one perfect sentence: "Thank you Capitol Records and Jesus!"

We guess we should just accept that sometimes Kelly Clarkson is a country singer (like when she's standing next... Show More »

We guess we should just accept that sometimes Kelly Clarkson is a country singer (like when she's standing next to Vince Gill) and sometimes she is not (like when she's standing next to Robin Thicke). But we do not have to accept that dress made out of an over-starched curtain.

We give Blake Shelton some major props by starting off his Male Vocalist of the Year speech with the admission, "I'm goi... Show More »

We give Blake Shelton some major props by starting off his Male Vocalist of the Year speech with the admission, "I'm going to be a little honest, I've had a few drinks since the Song of the Year announcement." That must have been the reason he included Reba McEntire in his off-the-cuff acceptance speech, admitting it was for no better reason than "because you're sitting there looking at me." We also love drunk Shelton for calling his mentoring gig on "The Voice" his "side job."

Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere seem to have embraced the country lifestyle. During their onstage banter about "cheatin... Show More »

Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere seem to have embraced the country lifestyle. During their onstage banter about "cheatin' and backstabbin' and drunkenness and motorboatin'," the stars of ABC's "Nashville" seemed to have imbibed a few beverages themselves. Case in point: when cracking open the envelope holding the results for Female Vocalist of the Year, Panettiere seemed to fumble, saying "oh shoot" before announcing Miranda Lambert had won.

The tribute to lifetime achievement award winner Willie Nelson was one of the highlights of the CMAs, with artists like Bl... Show More »

The tribute to lifetime achievement award winner Willie Nelson was one of the highlights of the CMAs, with artists like Blake Shelton, Faith Hill and Dierks Bentley covering some of his best-known songs. But what really struck us was how Nelson joined them all on stage for "On the Road Again" -- he just got up from his seat, walked up the steps and started playing. Willie Nelson does not need to warm up.